Jamie Dixon’s Pitt Panthers basketball team continues to show signs of being a good basketball team, but after continuously teasing fans of that fact, they continue to do things to lose games when it counts.
Saturday afternoon was no exception, as despite some late-game heroics from Lamar Patterson, the Panthers were outplayed in overtime and dropped a 74-67 Big East Conference battle to Marquette.
Other than taking a 2-0 lead in the first minute of the game, the Panthers never led in this one, but found a way to make things very interesting.
Trailing 57-54 with 19 seconds left in the game, a wild pass from the Golden Eagles Davante Gardner gave the Panthers some life, and Lamar Patterson took advantage by knocking down a three at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
But Pitt couldn’t carry the momentum to overtime as Marquette outplayed the Panthers in the extra session as they couldn’t find offense, other than a few late Patterson triples.
“We did it to ourselves,” said Lamar Patterson. “We took some errant shots and had some breakdowns defensively. Those are things that make it frustrating because we can’t have that happen.”
One of the main reasons that the Panthers struggled scoring the basketball is that they had to play a majority of the game without senior point guard Tray Woodall, who only played four minutes after leaving with a concussion in the first half when he collided with Marquette’s Derrick Wilson.
“We have to wait and find out,” said Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon. “Even if he says he is fine, we have to follow certain steps with a concussion. We won’t know for at least 24 hours.”
But the Panthers scratched and clawed without their senior leader, but could never get over the hump.
Despite shooting poorly from the floor in the first half (37.5 percent), the Panthers used a late charge to pull within three at the half at 33-30.
Pitt pulled within two and tied the game a couple times during the second half, but couldn’t make enough plays when it counted to ever take the lead.
The Panthers shot only 39.7 percent from the floor during the game, but allowed the Golden Eagles to connect 47.9 percent of the time. That number was an improvement from the 61.1 percent Marquette shot in the first half.
Some of the shooting problems were just missed open shots, but the Marquette zone gave the Panthers problems all afternoon, as Pitt really had to work for what they got on the offensive end.
“We played more zone than we typically play,” said Marquette head coach Buzz Williams. “We were getting stops and it seemed to give us energy. Our first shot field goal percentage was outstanding, but we didn’t rebound well in it and allowed way too many offensive rebounds. But overall, I like the way we defended.”
What made the loss worse is the fact that the Panthers struggled from the free-throw line in a big way, missing 13-of-26 attempts. In addition to their struggles from the line
But it wasn’t just the shooting problems that doomed Pitt.
The Panthers were outrebounded 38-33, including allowing 11 offensive boards.
“We just simply didn’t get it done,” said Dixon. “The rebounding sticks out the most, but we didn’t do a lot of things well. We didn’t defend well in the first half. We didn’t shoot well from the line. If you don’t rebound, make free-throws and make layups then you aren’t going to have success.”
While Pitt was having problems, Marquette made plays when they had to. They made tough shots from the floor and knocked down 23-of-30 free-throws.
Patterson led the Panthers with a career-best 22 points, while James Robinson added 12 and Durand Johnson chipped in a career-high 10, playing more minutes after Woodall got hurt. Patterson also hit a career-high six three-pointers and Steven Adams blocked a career-high four shots.
But it wasn’t enough.
Marquette’s Vander Blue was tough to stop all afternoon and led the Golden Eagles in scoring with 22 points. Gardner (13), Jamil Wilson (11) and Todd Mayo (10) also scored in double-figures for Marquette.
“We wanted to come out and deliver the first blow in overtime,” said Blue, who scored eight overtime points. “We didn’t get let down when they tied it up. We had to treat it like it was a 0-0 game and I thought we came out strong in overtime. It was a big win in a tough place to play.”
This is Pitt’s third close loss- second at home- so far this Big East season.
The Panthers will be back in action Wednesday when they travel to Villanova.
Photo Credit: Associated Press
